The problem is not new, but the stories are increasing with the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing the horrible war in their country , and child marriages are turning out into lucrative business for poor families.

There is no common minimum age of marriage that applies to all young Lebanese women and men as the personal status laws of the different religious denominations define the minimum age. In Lebanon’s third periodic CEDAW report (2006) the marriage ages of girls and boys for 10 different religious groups are listed. All of these religious groups allow girls under the age of 18 to marry. Among Sunni and Shiite Muslims, marriages of girls as young as 9 years old can be licenced given that approval is granted, although it is no longer customary that such young girls marry. Among the Jewish denomination, girls as young as 12.5 years old may marry, and among the Syrian Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox a girl may be as young as 14 years old when she marries. For boys of most religious groups the marriageable age is 18, although marriages of younger boys can be approved by most of the groups.

it is needless to say, Lebanon has to put a halt to this, and to Forbid Child Marriages, as it is stipulated in Convention on the Right of the child ratified by Lebanon, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW) also ratified by Lebanon, and other International treaties Lebanon should sign and Ratify such as the Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriage after changing and amending its personal status laws!